Hyuuchiha
by sincereviolet
Summary: "I know Kaasan said she wanted to have more kids… but isn't mail-order children a bit much?" Uchiha/Hyuuga Family-fic redone
1. Chapter 1

A/N: ….Deleted, reposted, deleted... reposting again.

Hyuuchiha Universe belongs to SpammishRice. I have

permission from her to use the idea and plot.

Enjoy

* * *

Itachi sat at the dinner table and toyed with his shirt hem. Sasuke was directly across from him, blinking rapidly at his plate. Fukagu sipped his

tea and studied his two sons.

_Why._

Mikoto finished washing breakfast dishes and headed back to join her family with a smile.

**_KNOCK, KNOCK!_**

"Ah, right on time. Itachi, please answer the door." Fukagu placed his tea cup on the table and waited.

"Hai, Otosan." Itachi stood up and walked to the door. He slid it open with little force and looked up to see a

shinobi courier with creepy sunglasses and a hat with 7331 scrawled across the top.

"Special delivery for Uchiha Fukagu!" He chirped happily. Itachi raised a brow at the man's love for his job. The courier moved slightly to the left and Itachi stared blankly at the so called 'package'.

"Uh… Tousan… I know Kaasan said she wanted to have more kids… but isn't mail-order children a bit much?" Itachi questioned his father when two children around Sasuke's age stared back at him. Mikoto gasped.

"Just confirm the package is complete, please." Fukagu twitched. _Genius son, my ass_.

Itachi took another look to make sure the children were not missing any limbs before nodding at the courier to leave.

"CAN WE KEEP THEM?" Sasuke grinned. The taller of the two 'mail-order' children pulled out a scroll and handed it to Itachi. He read it silently.

* * *

S.C.S

Shinobi Courier Service

Packing Slip

- One Hyuuga Child (female)

Name: Hyuuga Hinata

- One Hyuuga Child (male)

Name: Hyuuga Neji

If the package you received is damaged, incomplete, or

otherwise not accurate according to this packing slip,

please inform the courier immediately. Depending on the

situation, we offer the options of return service or

disposal.

Thank you.

* * *

"Does everything match the packing slip, Itachi?" Fukagu asked as he eyed the two Hyuugas in front of his

eldest son.

"Please Tousan? I promise to take REALLY good care of them! I'll feed them and clean them, and they can sleep on the floor next to my bed, and if they poo on the carpet, Kaasan won't mind cleaning it up, and if she doesn't want to, she can make Itachi do it-"

"_Shut up_, Sasuke." Fukagu rolled his eyes at his youngest son.

"Uh…looks about right, Tousan. Two Hyuuga children: one girl, one boy…" Itachi trailed off when he noticed the gleam in his mother's

eyes.

Mikoto stepped closer to the quiet Hyuugas.

"Huh. Okay. One girl, and one boy. Well, there's two of them. Girl, and boy… or boy…and that's the girl? Dammit, freaking Hyuugas and their androgyny. Hmm, no ages listed on the packing slip… the girl is listed first though. Does that mean the girl is older? Okay, long-haired kid is obviously older. But damn, she looks like a brat. Crap,give her a few years and she'll be a regular Crabby McBitchpants. God, how much does this kid spend on hair products? She can't be much older that Sasuke, maybe a year older at most… The boy looks nice enough, quiet too. Thank God, Sasuke is enough, don't need another over-confident, asinine little boy… Wait a second, why the hell did the Hyuugas send us kids in the first place?" Mikoto rambled. Itachi thought for a second about what this new adventure might entail.

"Cripes, do you know what this means for our already limited bathroom time? And who the hell in their right mind ships their children to another family? Seriously, they couldn't give them to people without children? What the fu-" Itachi's voice was drowned out by Sasuke trying to make friends with the boy his age.

"So, now that you're staying, we can hang out, eat sandwiches, play ninja, go fishing, steal Aniki's underwear and give them to those weird girls who wait in the bushes, chase squirrels, cross streams…"

"W-What?" The 'boy' stuttered. As Sasuke continued to barrage the smaller Hyuuga with questions, Mikoto ran her fingers through the 'girl's' long brown hair.

"Oh sweetie, we're going to have so much fun! We'll play with dolls, have tea parties… Oh! Let me see if I still have my old hair ribbons from when I was a little girl!"

"I'M A BOY!" The not yet confirmed boy yelled as he fumed over the entire situation.

Fukagu thought hard about his new charges.

_'Hiashi…. you are a dead man…_

_ I wonder if the Nara clan __needs kids…'_


	2. Chapter 2

A few clan meetings later, Fugaku and Mikoto found out the real reason they had two extra mouths to feed. They decided it would be best to keep it to themselves and just accept it as another crazy Hyuuga Clan thing.

After almost two weeks of getting to know one another, the Uchiha Clan Head found himself _tolerating _the Hyuuga kids, maybe even a little more than his own son. He especially liked Neji. Neji reminded him of…well… himself when he was younger. He also thanked the heavens for Hinata's quiet nature and caring demeanor. It reminded him of his wife, Mikoto, before she had children.

Speaking of Mikoto, she also developed a fondness of the two. She was quite embarrassed about all the gender confusion and she tried to redeem herself by telling Neji and Hinata she would never do it again. Maybe.

She knew a wardrobe change was in order. The group would be going out for a 'public appearance' soon and she needed those damn kids ready for anything. Fugaku quickly detached himself from his wife and the glint in her eye and went to talk to the Hokage about _anything._

Mikoto had stars in her eyes as she dragged the Hyuuga children through the compound while Itachi and Sasuke engaged in another fierce staring contest.

She started with Neji. He was given a dark blue shirt and light tan shorts. When he stood next to Sasuke, Mikoto quickly changed her mind about making them twins. Instead of the dark blue shirt, she replaced it with a grey one with a thick, dark stripe across the middle.

Then she turned to Hinata. The girl whimpered under the look.

Immediately sensing his mother's devilish intent, Itachi clapped and Sasuke blinked which made Itachi the-

"CHEATER!"

-winner in the battle of the eyes.

"Umm…Kaasan? How about Hinata wear something not so…frilled?… I really don't think she likes it." Itachi eyed his new 'sister' when she came out of the hall. Yellow.. Lots of yellow…So fluffy.. did I mention, it was so yellow he was almost blinded by the intensity of it all. Hinata was, to say the least, a duckling.

Mikoto was silent for a second. _'I thought she looked cute.. but-'_

"You know what, Itachi? You're right."

A few milliseconds later, more like two hours, Hinata returned with a light blue blouse and white fitted shorts that ended a little past her knees. This was the new Hinata. Otherwise known as, the cutest female four year old in the whole Village Hidden in the Leaves. Because Mikoto's biased. And proud of it.

And _finally_ the Hyuuga kids were ready to go out. Or they would be... If it wasn't already bedtime by the time they were finished getting dressed..

"Oh well. There's always tomorrow!" Mikoto smiled brightly. Neji looked at Itachi, his eyes widened in disbelief and screaming,

"IS SHE SERIOUS?"

Itachi's short nod sent Neji into pout mode. Just then, a scrape was heard at the window. Five heads turned toward the glass immediately. Itachi was about to check it out when Neji activated his Byakugan.

"Mikoto-san? There's a bunch of girls in the bushes outside." There was an awkward silence… broken by none other than!-

"C'mon, Hinata!"

Sasuke grabbed Hinata's hand and disappeared.

Soon, teenage girls gleeful screams could be heard outside.

Itachi sighed.

"Not again."


	3. Chapter 3

Timeskip: One year.

* * *

Sasuke paced back and forth, as he shouted various orders to his little minio- _sister_... yeah- sister, Hinata.

The small girl scrambled about his room, gathering the exact things her big brother was asking for. With her being oh so devoted to said brother, she was determined to be an excellent helper. Sasuke stopped shouting and sat on his bed. Hinata paused in her running and quietly did the same. She surveyed her work.

"Sasuke-nii? Why did you need all this stuff?"

The tower swayed ominously.

"One word, Hinata… revenge!" He sprang up dramatically with a finger in the air pointing to the ceiling. Unfortunately for the two five year olds, this caused the 'Monster Pile of Stuff for Revenge' to collapse and bury the children.

After a fierce battle of pushing things out of the way, they made their way to the surface and barely escaped the clutches of a dark haired shark—Mom…..'Monster Mom'.

"Whatever you two are up to… I want in." She grinned. Sasuke matched her grin and took her hands in his.

"Kaasan! Last week-" He paused. The background swirled, then went back to normal.

He pouted.

"Don't worry baby, you'll get it someday. Flashback no Jutsu!" Mikoto tapped his forehead.

* * *

_~~~~~~~~FLASHBACKnoJUTSU~~~~~~~~_

Itachi and Neji were having a (in Sasuke's much valued opinion) boring conversation about Neji's day at the academy.

"..so then this crazy looking green man came into the room and scared Tora so much that she ran away. So, Mizuki-sensei had us go find the stupid cat and bring it back."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Itachi shrugged. Tora and her many kittens gave him no problems, but he could practically see the whole Academy class failing to get the cat.

"It got worse. Some other boy tried getting the cat and mid-jump, he flipped over and landed on a poor girls head and…"

"And?"

"She beat him up… It was.. Pretty cool." Neji smirked.

A small snicker was heard.

"Sasuke, come out. You're not stealthy at all." Sasuke crawled out from under the bed and Hinata rolled out behind him.

She looked especially guilty.

"Ano… um.. I'm sorry for s-spying on you Itachi-nii-san. Neji-nii-san." Hinata bowed apologetically to her elder brothers.

"Hinata get up, you act like you hurt someone. Besides, Sasuke probably dragged you into it." Neji rolled his eyes.

"Actually Hinata, you are quite good at hiding. I could barely even notice you were there. You've been training with Kaasan?" Itachi gave her a rare compliment.

"Yeah…Actually, Kaasan has been teaching me lots of things." She turned to Sasuke.

"Sasu-nii? How's your pre-training with Tousan?"

"Going awesome! But… He says I need to focus better and said I have… ADHLASD.."

"What's that?" Neji eyed his younger brother. _Do I even want to know? _He thought, too late.

"Attention Defeci- HEY LOOK A SQUIRREL- Disorder." The last word was whispered as Sasuke went to chase that squirrel.

"Baka…." Itachi rolled his eyes.

_~~~~~~~~FLASHBACKnoJUTSU(release)~~~~~~~~_

* * *

"_SO_ you see, Nii-san thinks I'm dumb! I'll show him! I'll show all of you! Muahahahaha-coughcoughcough-haha!…"

The women in the room eyed him warily.

"Sasu-nii? How could you have heard Itachi-nii if you were ch-chasing the squirrel?"

"I have good hearing, Hinata. It comes in handy." 'Oh so serious' Sasuke made a brief appearance. Hinata smiled.

"SO Sasuke, how are you going to show them all?" Mikoto half smiled.

"Well.." Sasuke gave out a Grinch grin. He eyed the mass of stuff before he looked at the clock.

"Hinata, Plan DINS! GO! GO! GO!" He swept her out the door. With a short and determined nod, Hinata left to put the plan in motion.

"Sasuke. What is DINS?" Mikoto decided to take a stab at her son's imagination. Not literally, of course. But that would also be entertaining.

He gave his mother a disappointed look.

"Distract Itachi and Neji for Sasuke. What else could it mean? I mean, really, Kaasan, think outside the box once and a while. Now, we get to set all this up."

* * *

~~~~~With Hinata~~~~~

_Okay, Sasu-nii and Kaasan, you have twenty minutes._

Hinata stared at her wall for a second before bursting into tears. Neji made it to her first and stood there like a tree, not knowing what to do. Itachi and Fugaku also came into the room and saw the distressed Hinata and plant-like Neji. Fugaku picked Hinata off the floor tried to soothe her.

"Shhh.. just calm down and tell me what's wrong, Hinata." She had to suppress a giggle. He was wrapped around her little finger. Faking a sniffle, she bit her lip. _Otousan, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into_.

"Wh-when Sasuke-nii, Kaasan, and I went t-to pick up N- N-Neji-nii from th-the Academy… I s-saw these o-other little girls and Kaasan s-said to p-play with them… so I.. So I went over to them and a g-girl with p-p-pink hair st-started calling me names!" Another bout of crying followed the tear jerking story. Hinata shook into her adoptive father's shoulder. She shook with hidden laughter. She was making the whole thing up!

_I mean, really, who on earth has pink hair?_ she thought to herself.

"What did she call you Hinata?" Neji finally broke through his vegetable state and an angry look settled on his face.

"She… she called me..B-Blindy! Sh-she said I looked li-like a f-f-freak!" Another sob shook her small frame. Neji quietly glared at a made up picture in his head of the pink haired girl who had been antagonizing his nee-chan. Itachi, who'd been silent the whole time decided to end the charade.

He wasn't fooled in the slightest. _Father can be such a pushover…Thank Kami the other Clan Heads don't see him like this... _

"Hinata, tell me something. When pink head made fun of you, what was Sasuke doing?"

_Oh no… If he asked me this… he knows.. Hurry, Sasuke-nii!_

Hinata hopped out of her father's arms.

"I…forgot.. I'll go ask him!" She ran out of the room leaving one confused, one angry, and one suspicious man in the room. Out of thin air, a small flying disc flew straight for Itachi's forehead and was intercepted by a hand.

"_Please_, Sasuke. _Stop_ involving Hinata in your little schemes. You're tainting her."

Sasuke appeared from behind a couch.

"You just wait, Itachi! I'll get you someday!... You got lucky!" Sasuke ran away to Kami-knows-where. Everyone stared bewildered at Sasuke's cryptic message.

Hinata wandered back in.

"Why is Sasuke-nii rolling on the floor laughing in the hall?"

Itachi looked at his hand. The disc Sasuke threw at him had a special jutsu, courtesy of their mother, on it. When it hit his hand, it made a sentence.

_**'You might want to buy more underwear**_**'**

He would have slapped his forehead if it wouldn't have smeared ink on it.


	4. Chapter 4

Eleven year old Itachi tightened his grip on the hands of his two youngest siblings when they made their way to the Ninja Academy. Neji drilled Sasuke on what was considered acceptable public behavior when bright pink hair caught his eye. After wondering why the sight before him infuriated him so, he looked away in disgust.

Sasuke did the same. If Neji didn't like something, neither would Sasuke. It was law.

Hinata hid behind Itachi when a teacher met them at the door.

"Hello, Iruka."

"Itachi, is that you? Neji! How are you doing? Oh, and this is?" He pointed to the short, scared girl with violet locks falling to her mid-back, who was desperately trying to be invisible. She wanted her Kaasan to be there on her first day, but Mikoto and Fugaku had been assigned a rare joint mission by the Third. And a mission was a mission. No exceptions. Hinata knew that, but it didn't help her in any way. Her big brother was the next best thing.

"This is Hinata and you've met Sasuke before. Neji, why don't you get to class?"

Neji paused before he left.

"Iruka-sensei, make sure you keep an eye on Sasuke for me, he's a little-" Neji made a few twirls around his ear with his pointer finger, "if you know what I mean."

Neji wandered towards Mizuki-sensei's classroom and met up with someone, younger, and talked for a moment. Two nods of recognition were exchanged and the two were on their way. During the odd exchange, Hinata met Iruka and he led them to his classroom.

Itachi felt a slight tug on his shirt.

"Nii-san … I'm scared… what if- what if no one wants to be my friend?"

"Hinata, who doesn't like you?" _'Besides Hyuuga-sama of course'_ he thought, eyes narrowing.

"Well… alright. I guess I'll be fine." She smiled up at him. A bell rang and Itachi sent her to a seat in the middle of the classroom, right next to Sasuke. Itachi sent a warning look towards Sasuke that said 'if I have to come back here for anything, I'll tell mother and let her decide your punishment' and left. Sasuke smiled and waved at his retreating brother, but immediately frowned when other classmates ran in. Hinata tilted her head to the left, intending to ask about it later.

When Iruka finally got everyone settled down, he clapped once.

"Alright everyone, welcome to Konoha's Ninja Academy. Within these walls are the foundations of every great Leaf ninja. I am your sensei, Iruka. Any questions? None? Good. Time for your first lesson. Chakra. Can someone please explain to the rest of the class what a Chakra network is?" Normally, he would have started their first day by meeting the thing, but the thing was vacationing just out of Konoha. A tiny, hesitant hand slowly rose in the middle of the classroom.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"A chakra network is a system of your chakra streaming throughout your body. It is invisible to most people." She took a breath. Iruka blinked.

The rest of the class had their eyes on her, except a few that thought their desk was a comfortable place to nap.

"Great job Hinata! And do you happen to know who can see a chakra network?"

Suddenly, the girl reverted to her shy form. Another hand lazily rose in the row behind them.

"Go ahead, Shikamaru."

"Hyuuga's can see it."

"Exactly. Now I have a special guest to show us exactly how Hyuuga's see chakra. Hiashi-sama, if you will."

Sasuke stared death at the door, waiting.

Hinata froze. She hadn't had any contact with her biological father in 2 whole years, and didn't want to face him. Sasuke noticed his sister's distress and nudged her with his elbow. She snapped out of her trance and saw him slip out a rare comfort smile. She smiled and took a breath.

The door opened.

She paled.

Sasuke glared.

Hiashi stepped in and swept his 'all seeing eyes' over the class. Hinata felt his gaze rest on her and looked up. They locked eyes. Hiashi looked away first. Hinata briefly wondered if her father regretted his decision.

"Children, this is Hiashi-sama. Leader of the Hyuuga Clan."

Sasuke frowned. _'More like Banisher of the Hyuuga's better than him_!'

"Good morning, children."

"Good morning, Hyuuga-sama." A chorus of kids answered his greeting. Minus Sasuke, Hinata, and the pineapple kid in the back of them. Hinata remembered him from somewhere, but couldn't place the where exactly.

"I will be showing you my clans kekki genkai. How many of you have a kekki genkai?" Sasuke, Shikamaru, Hinata, Ino, Choji, Shino, and Kiba had their hands up.

"How many of these are active dojutsu?" Only Sasuke and Hinata's hands were still half up. Hinata looked at Sasuke, knowing he hadn't activated the Sharingan yet and was just trying to help her out. She nudged him and his hand went down.

"Could you please come down here?" Hinata braced herself and stepped delicately to the front of the room. She held in a whimper.

"Please activate the Byakugan." Hiashi's was already on. Hinata whispered and veins bulged around her pupil-less eyes. He circled her slowly as she stood in place.

"The Byakugan is an enhanced type of vision. It can see all of Konoha and even farther. It lets the user see almost 360° around the user… It also lets us see your chakra networks. The chakra in your body flows through these highways and have many points at which it can be increased…" A few pokes on Hinata here and there," or completely stopped. This happens when I push the chakra out of my fingertips directly on these points. Chakra control is the greatest ally for any ninja." By the time he finished poking her, Hinata was exhausted and began blocking his blows but couldn't move her left arm.

He sent her back to her seat and felt the glare of an Uchiha digging into his face. Taking a quick glance at where she had sat, he saw the youngest Uchiha heir glaring at him. He also saw his ex-daughter opening her chakra points with precision. _'Who taught her… Neji? No…?_'

"Hiashi-sama, I am grateful for you coming today. Class please say thanks to Hyuuga-sama for taking time out of his busy schedule to show us his Kekki Genkai."

"Thank you, Hyuuga-sama." Less voices answered back. Most of Hinata's new friends glared at the old Hyuuga. Hiashi took a last look at his daughter and left with a nod. Sasuke gave her another smile and questioning look.

"I'm… fine. Thanks." Hinata whispered as Iruka quieted down a blonde boy.

"If you say so…" He slumped in his seat.

Hinata eyed her brother, "M'kay…"

* * *

The day passed without any familial drama and Hinata often found herself and Sasuke making faces at each other whenever Iruka would talk about things they already knew.

The rest of the class nearly jumped out of their seats when the bell for recess rang loudly through the room.

"You are dismissed." A mob flooded through the door. Once outside, Neji met up with Sasuke and Hinata.

"How was your experience with Demon Cat?" He started guessing with the looks on his younger siblings faces.

"W-Well… Tora wasn't there and Iruka-sensei had Hiashi- sama teach us about chakra instead..." Hinata bit her lip, examining the look in Neji's eyes. She couldn't read a thing. Sasuke, on the other hand, knew exactly what was about to come out of his brothers mouth.

"What did he do?" If you looked up serious in a dictionary, a picture of a 7 year old Neji would not surprise anyone.

"He talked about chakra and had Hinata go up to demonstrate a dojutsu. He used her as an example to poke and stop her chakra. I think he was a bit impressed with how much she knew."

Neji almost snickered. Almost. "I wonder what he'll do if he finds out Itachi has been copying Hyuuga scrolls…" He trailed off as a kunai hit the tree behind them.

Three heads turned to the paper hanging off the kunai. Itachi's way of saying hello. Neji read the note out loud for his siblings to hear.

_'Neji, I have a meeting with the Third. Walk the twins home. Go to Aunties house. I'll be there around 6 to pick you up. Itachi._'

"I really wish he'd stop calling us twins."

"Well, our clothes a-are pretty similar…"

"Will you both just shut up?"

"No." They answered in unison.

"You're unbearable, I'm leaving."

"Don't forget the kunai. Again."

"….I wasn't going to."


	5. Chapter 5

The Hyuuga children were always the first ones awake, something about rising with the sun or some other weird Hyuuga thing the Uchiha family just couldn't get out of them. They were always followed, hours later, by Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi.

Sasuke, on the other hand, slept like the dead.

"Wake up, loser." Neji poked his little brother in the face a few times. A few mumbled 'no's' were replied. He resorted to more barbaric measures. A nice smack on the head would do nicely.

Sasuke sprang up out of bed before Neji's palm could make contact.

"KILL THE RAINBOW! KILL IT NOW! Kill it, kill it, kill it…"

Neji eyed his brother like he'd grown another head. Well, he _had_ done that before, but that's a whole 'nother story.

"Kaa-san said to get up. It's time to get ready." Neji backed out of the room slowly, making sure there was a good distance between him and the monster.

Sasuke shook his head. "Falls for it every time."

Making his way to the family washroom he noticed all his siblings were in there too. Da- Stupid limited bathroom time. Sasuke scowled, they were the Head family of the _Uchiha _Clan and they couldn't have another bathroom?!

He stared in the large mirror. Itachi was at the furthest end, a hair tie hanging from his mouth, one eye opened as he watched his siblings with a half smile. Neji watched Itachi and tried to mirror his movements on himself. He struggled to keep his hair tie in his mouth.

Sasuke moved behind Hinata and through his hands through the back of her wet hair and made it stand up like his. After finally getting it right, he broke the comfortable silence the same way he always did.

"There! Now you look awesome, just like me!"

Hinata the Duck had made an interesting comeback.

Neji stared for a moment before he violently shivered.

"..Sasuke… No. No, no, no, no, no. You are not corrupting her."

"I don't know, Niisan, I kind of like it this way..." Hinata twirled.

Neji bowed his head in defeat and finished tying his hair in silenc-

"SASUKE, PUT THOSE SCISSORS DOWN NOW!"

"But Kaasan, Hinata-chan's hair is too lon-"

"NO."

* * *

It was dark when Fugaku and Itachi returned from a clan meeting. When they entered the kitchen, Mikoto was waiting for them with tea and a glare.

Once settled at the table, the three Uchiha's somberly drank their tea.

"They are... relentless. The elders are pushing harder than ever and-", Fugaku stopped and wondered if telling his wife was the best idea.

Itachi spoke up for him, but was unable to look his mother in the eye when he whispered, "They want Neji and Hinata _gone _before the end of the month_."_

Mikoto placed her tea cup on the table and curled her hands in the fabric of her dress.

"You can't seriously be considering those stupid spi-"

"Of course not." Fugaku interrupted his wife, "The elders are completely deranged. They need to be replaced before this gets out of hand and others being to agree with them about... everything.."

"I still don't see why the Hokage won't do anything about them..." Mikoto grumbled.

"Hokage-sama is aware of their plans and has not yet informed the council. He will not interfere in clan affairs unless we deem it absolutely necessary." Itachi stared at the table and sighed softly.

"It's late." Fugaku locked eyes with his wife as Itachi bid them goodnight and went to his room.

They stared at each other from across the table. Mikoto gripped her dress harder.

"They will not touch our children."

* * *

"_Itaaaachi_- train with us. You never see us anymore..." Sasuke whined at his oldest brother when he made his way across the field to where Itachi was sitting under a tree.

Hinata bit her lip and tugged on Sasuke's sleeve. Their height difference was starting to make Hinata feel so _tiny_. All her brother's were going to be giants at this rate, she was sure.

"Ano...Niisan is tired, Sasuke-kun, he just got back from his mission last night. We should let him rest."

"She's right, don't be such a baby, Sasuke-_chan_."

Sasuke whirled around to find Neji smirking at him from a few yards away. He huffed and took one last look at Itachi before whirling around and trying to beat the brain out of Neji.

Hinata sighed and went to sit by Itachi to watch.

"Niisan... why have you had so many missions this month? You used to have breaks but now it's like you're never home..." She looked up at her eldest brother. Hinata saw the sadness and guilt in his eyes before he quickly hid them.

"I am being deployed where I am needed, Imouto. I cannot control what I am assigned, you know this."

She watched as Sasuke punched Neji in the shoulder before he was launched a few yards away by angry feet.

"I am... I know you're the best shinobi, Niisan, and that you are content with what you do, but I still worry about you."

Itachi pulled Hinata closer so that the small girl was pressed against his side. Itachi may have only been 13, but he'd seen a world of horrors before he was half her age. He swore to himself that she and Neji and Sasuke would not have to be exposed to such things while they were so young.

Sasuke yelped loudly as Neji hit him hard in frustration.

"I am not the one you should be worrying about, Hinata."


End file.
